This is my mom's bread recipe. It actually comes from my Dad's mother, I believe, and my Dad taught my Mom how to make it when they got married. It's my all time favorite wheat bread recipe, and I have finally gotten to where I feel like it's perfect home made bread. It has phenomenal taste, it's soft but somewhat chewy, and it holds together really well so I can slice it really thin and make sandwiches out of it (I always hated sandwiches on homemade bread because the bread was sooooo thick). The trick is to use fresh ground wheat flour. You'll get a much better gluten mixture, and the bread will stick together and be a better texture.
Whole Wheat Bread
5 cups hot water
6 cups whole wheat flour
Beat the hot water and flour together until mixture becomes shiny, sticky and clumpy. I use my electric beaters, because my arm gets really tired, but my Mom always beat it by hand (maybe because she had 6 girls!) This helps to release the gluten in the wheat and will make the bread stick together better.
1/2 cup warm water
1 TBSP sugar
2 1/2 TBSP yeast
Put yeast and sugar in warm water while beating the hot water and flour together. The yeast will dissolve in the water and will become bubbly. Make sure to use a 2-cup measuring cup as the yeast mixture will grow.
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup oil
2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
Add to the water and flour mixture, and stir well. Then add the yeast mixture and another cup of flour and mix together. At this point, you will have a sticky dough. Continue to add dough until dough is just a little sticky, about 6 more cups. Oil your counter or bread board, and turn dough onto oiled surface. Oil your hands, and start kneading the dough. I knead it for about 5 minutes, my mom would say you should do 10 minutes. Dough should be shiny and satiny feeling. Oiling the surface instead of flouring it keeps your dough from getting too dry, and will help the bread to be moist and not crumbly.
Put dough back in bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for about 1 hour, until indentation remains in dough when poked.
Divide dough into four equal loaves, shape, and place in greased bread pans. Let rise about 45 minutes, then place in oven at 350 degrees. Bake for about 30 minutes, until loaves are golden brown, sound hollow when tapped, and move in the pan when you shake the pan. Remove loaves from pans a couple minutes after taking out of the oven. If you leave them in the pans, the bottoms will get soggy. Slice and enjoy!
Whole Wheat Bread
5 cups hot water
6 cups whole wheat flour
Beat the hot water and flour together until mixture becomes shiny, sticky and clumpy. I use my electric beaters, because my arm gets really tired, but my Mom always beat it by hand (maybe because she had 6 girls!) This helps to release the gluten in the wheat and will make the bread stick together better.
1/2 cup warm water
1 TBSP sugar
2 1/2 TBSP yeast
Put yeast and sugar in warm water while beating the hot water and flour together. The yeast will dissolve in the water and will become bubbly. Make sure to use a 2-cup measuring cup as the yeast mixture will grow.
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup oil
2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
Add to the water and flour mixture, and stir well. Then add the yeast mixture and another cup of flour and mix together. At this point, you will have a sticky dough. Continue to add dough until dough is just a little sticky, about 6 more cups. Oil your counter or bread board, and turn dough onto oiled surface. Oil your hands, and start kneading the dough. I knead it for about 5 minutes, my mom would say you should do 10 minutes. Dough should be shiny and satiny feeling. Oiling the surface instead of flouring it keeps your dough from getting too dry, and will help the bread to be moist and not crumbly.
Put dough back in bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for about 1 hour, until indentation remains in dough when poked.
Divide dough into four equal loaves, shape, and place in greased bread pans. Let rise about 45 minutes, then place in oven at 350 degrees. Bake for about 30 minutes, until loaves are golden brown, sound hollow when tapped, and move in the pan when you shake the pan. Remove loaves from pans a couple minutes after taking out of the oven. If you leave them in the pans, the bottoms will get soggy. Slice and enjoy!
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